Setup company for possibly short term job offer

gerryR

Hi All

Company I worked with for the last 8 years recently went bust so I've been on job seekers benefit for the past month or so.

I went for an interview and have got and offer for a months contract work which may be extended to 3 months and possibly up to 12 months after that. To do this I need to have a VAT number and a company.

I've no problem doing this even if the jobs only for a month but my concern is that if the job ends after the month does the fact that I've got a company come against me when I try to rejoin the job seekers benefit? Would I have to shut the company down 1st and would that look bad for future ventures?

Not sure if this was the right section to post in? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

gR

Mrs OBumble

That could be a bad move: even if you shut the company down, you'll have been paying Class S (instead of A) PRSI, and that would probably affect your eligibility for JSB.

Better if you investigate working through an umbrella company: the umbrella company invoices your client, and they pay you like an employee. The before tax amount you get is basically what your client pays, less the company's fee and the employer PRSI. Which this can seem quite big, for a short term contract it's less than the costs of registering a company and sorting out all the tax stuff. One such company is CXC - there are others - google or search boards to find out more about them.

(I've heard that it currently takes 3 months to register a company, due to public sector industrial action. Don't know if this is true or just a rumour .. could be quite wrong.)

gerryR

Thanks Mary,

Might have a look at CXT or similar at least until I find out if it's going to be long term or now.

Rgds

AARRRGH

Why do you need to have a company and be VAT registered? Why can't you just do it as a sole trader?

How you pay your tax is irrelevant to your employer if they hire you as an outside contractor.